


spinning my mind

by helsinkibaby



Category: NCIS
Genre: Community: comment_fic, F/M, Female Friendship, Het, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-30
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2019-05-16 06:02:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14805734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: When Ellie and Delilah meet for a girls' lunch, Delilah has an ulterior motive.





	spinning my mind

**Author's Note:**

> Theme : song titles  
> Prompt : Any, any, If You Want It To Be Good Girl (Get Yourself A Bad Boy) (Backstreet Boys)  
> https://comment-fic.livejournal.com/881543.html?thread=106338951#t106338951

Their glasses are almost empty as Ellie sits back in her chair and looks across the table at Delilah. “Should we get the check?” she asks and her friend’s reaction is instant, her face falling before she even looks at her watch. 

“Do we have to?” she asks. Ellie’s chuckle leaves her shaking her head. “It’s all right for you... you can do this anytime you like. Do you know when the last time I was able to go out for a girly lunch? Drink bottomless mimosas, do my hair, put on make up? Where I wore actual perfume instead of eau de baby puke?” 

Sensing that this is a rant that could go on and on, Ellie catches the eye of one of the servers milling around with a jug of orange liquid. “Refill on the mimosas it is,” she says and Delilah visibly relaxes. 

“I’m sure Tim is fine with the twins,” she says confidently. “He’s always saying he needs to spend more time with them.” Ellie’s heard Tim say that on more than one occasion so she nods. “I’m not keeping you away from anything, am I?”

Ellie shakes her head, waits until her glass is full before replying. “Nick said he’ll pick me up whenever we’re ready; we’ll probably just grab dinner and have a quiet night in,” she tells her. “I’m sure he’ll give you a ride home too.” 

Delilah looks more delighted at that than might reasonably be expected considering that moments earlier she’d been begging Ellie to stay a little longer. Her next words make the reason why crystal clear. Leaning in, there’s a funny little smile on her face when she says, “OK, I wasn’t going to ask you, but since you brought it up...” Just like that, the penny drops and Ellie picks up her drink to hide her smile. Delilah either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care. “You and Nick. How’s that going?” 

Ellie lifts an eyebrow, parries the question more out of genuine curiosity than not wanting to answer. “You mean Tim hasn’t said anything?” Not that Tim’s one for gossip (usually - the memory of a few days spent trying to find out if Nick and Alex Quinn had had a fling back in the day resurfaces every now and again and Nick finds it hilarious) but he and Delilah are married, they talk about their days, Ellie had been sure it must have come up somewhere. 

Delilah rolls her eyes and actually snorts in derision. “Oh please. I have asked but Tim refuses to tell me anything about the two of you. He does everything but stick his fingers in his ears and go ‘lalalalala’ when I bring it up.” She actually puts her fingers in her ears to make the point and even trying to picture the very serious Senior Field Agent Timothy McGee doing that makes Ellie giggle. She giggles again when Delilah cocks her head to one side and frowns. “Actually, he did do that one time.” 

“He did not.” The look Delilah gives her makes her reassess her opinion. 

“Oh he did. It was quite amusing, once I got over the urge to strangle him.” She rolls her eyes but there’s a fondness to her smile as she shakes her head. “But don’t try to distract me. You and Nick. Spill.” 

Ellie takes a deep breath as she considers her answer, decides honesty is the best policy. “It’s good,” she tells Delilah. “I mean... I didn’t mean to fall for a co-worker. Again.” Her lips twist as the twin memories of Jake and Qasim drift past. 

“So you’ve got a type,” is Delilah’s blithe pronouncement and it makes Ellie laugh because the three co-workers she’s been involved with couldn’t be more different. Delilah’s not done yet though, not by a long shot. "The important question." Delilah leans across the table, fixes her eyes on Ellie. "Does he make you happy?" 

Ellie thinks about the answer, but she finds she doesn't have to think too hard about it. Because she thinks of him first thing in the morning, waking her up with a smile on his lips and his lips on her skin. Thinks of him keeping her supplied with food and snacks and coffee in the middle of a long case, meeting his eyes across the bullpen and knowing exactly what he's thinking. Thinks of him just this morning, pulling her close and dancing with her in her kitchen, trying all manner of sweet talk to try to get her to stay there with him rather than go out for lunch with Delilah. A smile stretches across her lips and she nods. "Yes," she says, surprised to find it's the first thing she's even thought the words, much less said them out loud. "He makes me happy." 

Delilah tilts her head, narrows her eyes the same way Tim does when he's got a follow up question in the bullpen. "Happy," she says, lifting her glass and raising it to her lips, "in _every_ way?" There's an emphasis on the "every" that Ellie doesn't quite get at first, not until Delilah lowers her glass slightly and actually waggles her eyebrows. "Well?" 

She draws that word out too and that's when the penny drops. "Wait a minute." Ellie leans forward, drops her voice so she won't be overheard. "Are you seriously asking me what Nick is like in bed?" 

The eager nod she receives in response, accompanied by an absolutely filthy laugh, removes any and all doubt. "I only ask as your friend," Delilah says. "And because he's totally got that bad boy vibe going on. He looks like he knows what to do with a woman. Jerk-" Her lips purse in disgust and she takes a rather large sip of her drink, like she's trying to rinse a bad taste out of her mouth. Between that, the initial question and the fact that Ellie knows she's using the nickname that Tony and Tim had bestowed upon her lying, cheating ex-husband, which they still don't know she knows about, Ellie strongly considers waving the servers over and telling them to cut Delilah off. The impulse grows stronger when Deliliah waves her free hand dismissively, like she's swatting a fly. Or at least Jake. "Jerk did not look like he knew what to do with a woman." 

"You're not wrong." The words are out there, hanging in the air between them, before Ellie even realises that she's spoken them out loud. It seems to take Delilah a moment to process it too but when she does, her jaw drops and she laughs. It's part shock, part delight and Ellie covers her mouth with her fingers, like that will stop any more words falling out. 

"I knew it!" Deliliah widens her eyes, her eyebrows reaching towards her hairline. She doesn't say anything else though, is clearly waiting for Ellie to speak. 

Sighing, Ellie takes a fortifying sip of her drink. If this conversation continues along these lines, she thinks she's going to need it. "It's not as if things were bad with Jake," she says, because that's true, certainly at the start. At the end, when he'd been away more than he was at home, when the silences had outstripped the conversations, well, that had been another matter. "I mean, I had no complaints..." 

"At the time," Delilah interjects with a snicker and Ellie can't disagree, so she doesn't. 

"It's just..." Ellie signs again. "I know Jake loved me. Even at the end, with everything... I know that. But with Nick, it's different. It's like..." She casts around for the right words; another sip of mimosa helps. "It's like he worships me." 

Delilah looks thrilled. "Continue. I beg you." 

"I've never had that before." Qasim's face dances across her memory again, this time without its usual attendant ache. She doesn't mention his name to Delilah though, her mother have drilled into her that it's inappropriate to speak ill of the dead. "I mean, I worked with Jake, we spent a lot of time together. But Nick and I, we're together practically every second of the day..." 

"Tim has mentioned." They stop talking as the server comes by, tops up their glasses again. 

"We're not like that at work," Ellie assures her. "I know what people think, I've heard the jokes, the quips and I laugh every time... but I swear, not once have we done anything inappropriate on company time." 

Delilah tilts her head, regards her thoughtfully. "Define inappropriate." 

Ellie's about to deny everything when she suddenly recalls one particular late night when Gibbs and McGee had both gone home, leaving her and Nick alone in the bullpen. Which was nothing unusual, they'd been left there before. But this was the only time that, when she'd left to use the restroom, when she'd come back out, Nick had been standing there, his back against the opposite wall, his arms crossed over his chest and a smirk on his face that had been enough to make Ellie's knees weak. 

But not as weak as they'd gone when he pushed her back inside the restroom, into one of the stalls where he'd spun her around, pressed her back up against the closed door and dropped to his knees in front of her and proceeded to make her lose her mind. 

Even thinking about it makes her heart quicken and she looks down, bites her lip. 

Deliliah actually cackles and Ellie knows she's blushing furiously. "I'll take that as confirmation of my suspicions." 

"Ok, one time, Delilah, one time, I swear. The rest... Nick might have a reputation as a maverick and it's well deserved but when we're on the clock, it is strictly above board." 

"Only because we both know that you insist on it and Nick will do whatever you tell him." Deliliah gives her a knowing look, once again raising her glass to her lips. "Most of the time apparently, that is." 

"Oh, don't get me wrong. He flirts... a lot. Little touches and comments that no-one else can hear. He pushes the line... but he never goes over it. But once we get home... it's like he can't get me into the bedroom fast enough." In point of fact, half the time they don't actually make it to the bedroom but she doesn't mention that to Delilah. She hasn't had quite enough mimosa for that. But she has had enough to add on, "And it's amazing. I thought it was just the novelty at first, you know, a new relationship and all that... but it just gets better." Ellie narrows her eyes, a thought occurring to her. "Is it like that for you and Tim?" 

This time Delilah's chuckle is a lot more dry. "We have twins. And a spinal injury." She lifts one eyebrow. "Passion takes a little more planning for us." 

She says it in a matter of fact tone but Ellie still clamps her mouth shut, screws her eyes closed tightly at her faux pas. “I’m sorry, I didn’t even think-”

“Hey, don’t worry about it.” Delilah looks the furthest thing from upset and Ellie doesn’t think it’s just the alcohol talking. “It is what it is. Besides.” Her eyes sparkle. “I have no complaints either.” Ellie’s jaw drops at that because she literally has never thought about Tim in that light, ever. “But this isn’t about me and Tim, this is about you and Nick. Who is apparently amazing.” 

“He really is.” Ok, this is definitely the mimosa talking, Ellie decides. Which is, in a way, awesome, because she has total deniability over anything that comes out of her mouth. “Oh my god, his mouth...” Delilah’s jaw drops and Ellie hastily corrects herself. “Not like that.” She stops, considers again. “Well, yes, ok, like that too. But when we...” She waves her hands because apparently she does have limits, who knew? Delilah nods, motioning for her to go on. “He talks dirty. In Spanish.” 

Delilah fans herself. “Doesn’t he know his accent is hot enough as it is?” 

“I know, right?” Ellie’s cheeks heat again as she remembers some of the things Nick says to her, the way he looks when he says them. “A couple weeks ago, he had to talk Spanish to a suspect... it was all I could do not to jump him the second we came out of the interrogation room.” She purses her lips. “He knew it too, he had this little smirk on his face for the rest of the day.”

“So what happened once you got him home?” 

Delilah already knows the answer, Ellie is sure of that. Memories of that night make her cheeks burn hot, make her bite her lip and Delilah hoots, delighted. “Let’s just say,” Ellie said, “that I left him in no doubt how much he affected me.” She fans her face, takes another sip of her drink. “I’ve never been like this before, Delilah. I don't know what to do about it."

"Why do anything?" Delilah is looking at her like she's crazy. "Apart from enjoy it?" 

It might be the mimosas, but suddenly that sounds like the best advice Ellie's heard in weeks. 

*

Nick doesn't think anything of it when Ellie texts him to pick her up, rather than call him. He just assumes she and Delilah are having too much fun talking girl talk and that she doesn't want to interrupt that by actually talking to him. His first look at her and Delilah doesn't do anything to change his mind; the two women are sitting at a table near the window, chatting animatedly and only pausing when they see him. That's when Ellie's face lights up in a smile that could power the city for a month, while Delilah's smile is more of a smirk and there's a definite salacious glint to her eye when she leans in and says something to Ellie that makes her blush scarlet, which makes Delilah laugh aloud. 

That's Nick's first clue. 

The second clue comes when he actually walks over to them. "Hey, baby," Ellie says and Nick feels his eyes widen. Because Ellie's not one for pet names and while he routinely calls her "baby", and several other epithets some of which he would never repeat in company, not once has Ellie ever responded in kind. 

Then Delilah bursts into peals of giggles and Ellie shoots her a glare, actually shushes her. 

That's when the penny drops. 

"Baby," Nick says, dropping his hand onto Ellie's shoulder, shaking his head when she leans into his touch, "you two are soused." 

"We are not." Delilah's voice sounds like it should be scornful but there's a definite slur in there and the hand that goes to her chest does it with such force that it almost makes her fall over. 

"Oh, you are." Nick chuckles as he shakes his head again. "Come on, let's get the two of you home..." 

Somehow, he manages to get the two of them, still giggling, into his car, manages to get Delilah into the front seat, just about following her directions to get her chair folded up and into the trunk. The ride to Delilah and Tim's place isn't long, exactly, but between the giggles, the impromptu car pool karaoke and the way that Ellie's hand rests on his knee, insists on creeping up the inside of his thigh and back down again... well, Nick can't wait to arrive at their destination. 

It takes just as much effort to get Delilah into her chair again, and Ellie insists on accompanying him as he walks Delilah up to her apartment. Which is probably a good idea, Nick thinks, because leaving Ellie on her own in the car in her current state may not be the best idea he's ever had. It does, however, mean he's got two alcohol soaked ladies to deal with instead of one and by the time McGee opens the front door, Nick genuinely doesn't know whether to laugh or try to get some of whatever the hell Delilah and Ellie have been drinking. 

When McGee sees the tableau in front of him - Delilah weaving in her chair, Nick's hands knuckle white on the handles, Ellie leaning against him - his jaw drops, and the urge to laugh wins out for Nick. Or at least grin at the way McGee's jaw drops, the way his voice raises at least two octaves when he says, "What the hell?" 

"Honey," Delilah giggles, "I'm home." 

She collapses in peals of laughter and Ellie's not far behind her. Shaking his head, Nick wraps an arm around her shoulders and when Delilah twists her chair and looks up at the two of them, she grins. "Oh, look at you two lovebirds..." 

"Delilah..." McGee is at a loss for words, something that Nick doesn't think he's ever seen before and he spreads the arm that's not wrapped around Ellie out wide. 

"No more boozy lunches for these two," he says firmly. "I don't know who's the bad influence on who but I'm calling it right now."

"Agreed." McGee reaches past him for the handles of Delilah's wheelchair. "Come on, honey... let's get you some water."

"And food." Nick nods sagely. "They need soakage." 

"Oooh, food sounds good..." Ellie loops her arms around Nick's waist, nuzzles her face into his neck. And, in a move that shocks the hell out of Nick and makes McGee visibly blanche, she actually moans. "You smell amazing," she says in a voice that's probably supposed to be quiet but misses the mark by miles. 

McGee swallows hard. "You want a bottle of water for the ride home?"

Nick doesn't blink. "Oh yeah."

He makes sure that she sips the water during the ride back to her place, and he tries not to wince too openly when she uses the bottle as a makeshift microphone, singing along to songs on the radio that only she can hear, mostly in a key that should never be heard by anyone. Not that he thinks Ellie would care if she actually did catch him making a face - she seems to be at the stage of tipsy where she's not quite drunk but she's definitely giddy, definitely happy and she seems to be finding everything he does to be cute. She tells him that and upon hearing that, he mentally upgrades his assessment of her from "tipsy" to "extremely tipsy." 

She's full of giggles as he throws his keys onto the kitchen counter, giggles some more as she flops down on the couch and smiles over at him. "Get over here," she commands, stretching her arms out towards him. 

"Oh no." He wags his finger at her. Usually he wouldn't pass up an offer like that, but Ellie's giggled more in the last ten minutes than she has in the entire time he's known her and she's having trouble sitting up straight. "You are going to have some more water. Lots and lots of water. Then I'm going to order us some takeout, all your grease filled favourites. And once the alcohol has worked its way through your system, then, and only then, will I act out whatever little fantasies you have going on there." 

He's pulling out his phone, ready to dial her favourite greasy spoon, when she speaks. "You're a good man, Nick Torres," she tells him as she stands up and crosses the room to him, winding her arms around her neck. She sways a little as he slides his arms around her waist and it might even have been intentional. "You try to make people think you're a bad boy... but I know the truth." 

Nick chuckles but he doesn't deny it. Instead he leans in, brushes his lips across her cheek. "Don't tell anyone," he says and she smiles lazily up at him. 

"Don't worry," she says. "Your secret is safe with me." 

"Although..." He injects several extra syllables into the word. "I am going to be asking you exactly what you and Delilah were talking about over your boozy lunch... why do I think that it was something to do with me?"

He's taking a shot in the dark but when her cheeks flush pink, when she bites her lip, he knows it was a good one. She shakes her head, but her eyes are glinting. "Girl talk," she says. "You don't get to hear it."

There's a sing song lilt in her voice and he makes a noise at the back of his throat. It makes her eyes darken, makes her press herself against him and he smiles as he tightens his grip around her waist, bringing their lower bodies into closer contact. "You know I'm trained in all sorts of interrogation techniques," he reminded her. "I bet I can get you to talk..." 

"Yeah?" Ellie sounds a little breathless. "Try me." 

The thing is, Nick's a good guy, really. Or at least he's trying to be. But when Ellie looks up at him like that, there's not much else he can do but give in to temptation. 

Which turns out to be a good thing for both of them.


End file.
